Hockey Widow wrote:Well I don't think it will be too hard to get ISP addresses and identify people if he gets his court order, to be able to trace authorship. It is enough to show the person created, wrote, disseminated or repeated the allegations.

I think the Supreme Court said it was not defamation when they used a link to refer to another site that had the defamatory material but to quote the material is authoring it.

Like I said though, I preempted the story by asking if anyone else had gotten this email that I had received. Indicating I wasn't the originator of the chain email.

I didn't link it because it was through an email, so I cut and pasted. I did an online search for the story and found a few postings, guess I should have linked to those.

The post of mine wasn't deleted until Brian received a letter from these lawyers. Figured it would just be deleted if I had crossed a line. There's been rumours about players, coaches and management of various teams not to mention other celebrities posted on this forum and others I've been a member of. Never thought anything like this would come about!

Hockey Widow wrote:Well I don't think it will be too hard to get ISP addresses and identify people if he gets his court order, to be able to trace authorship. It is enough to show the person created, wrote, disseminated or repeated the allegations.

I think the Supreme Court said it was not defamation when they used a link to refer to another site that had the defamatory material but to quote the material is authoring it.

Like I said though, I preempted the story by asking if anyone else had gotten this email that I had received. Indicating I wasn't the originator of the chain email.

I didn't link it because it was through an email, so I cut and pasted. I did an online search for the story and found a few postings, guess I should have linked to those.

The post of mine wasn't deleted until Brian received a letter from these lawyers. Figured it would just be deleted if I had crossed a line. There's been rumours about players, coaches and management of various teams not to mention other celebrities posted on this forum and others I've been a member of. Never thought anything like this would come about!

It is a tough situation and I have no doubt that you never meant any harm or had any malicious intent. This could very easily be me facing these issues so I have a lot of empathy. And you are right, your conduct is no different from many of us that post on BB. And maybe thats the point Burke is trying to make, to make us all more accountable for what we post. I mean I know I can be the number one gossip here.

But I would not continue to post on what you may or may not have done or why, it only has the potential to hurt you in the end. Feel free to discuss the issues but be mindful of what you say in regard to yourself and the allegations.

okcanuck wrote:HW is right. Posting on this board is a privilege not a right. The last thing Brian CC needs is a lawsuit.

What the?!

I think all of us respect Brian CC. We all complied with the letter he received, you'd think that would be the end of the story, someone has other ideas to keep this story alive.

A18 has a great point. Where do we draw the live? If we come across some information that we feel might be hockey related then we have a decision to make. It's a judgement call. Is defamation intentional? I think the law sees that if you are the author then yes, you are opening yourself (and BCC) for a law suit. That's fair enough but if you are just discussing something that is in the public realm then what?We discuss rumours on here all the time with no intention but to offer our opinions not to slag someone personally.

The scariest thing is Twitter. It's mob mentality. If a rumour starts it spreads like wild fire until it burns itself out.That happened with the Boston bombers.On here at least we can have an adult conversation about something and if someone request we don't we stop and delete it.This is a weird one. Is he making an example? Does he think someone is out to get him and his reputation? Wouldn't be the first time.

We do a lot of slagging of each other on here (and hockey personnel and media). We mean it in jest, nothing personal. We know what is real and what is conjecture. Is it enough that we think something might be true or not?

At the end of the day if it is still just a rumour you'd have to be a moron to believe it.

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

I apologized to Brian and believe me I don't want anything to happen to him or anyone else because of something I posted.

I know it's a privilege to post here or anywhere else for that matter, don't exactly have a history of posting controversial or slanderous material. Never been warned and none of my other posts have been deleted to my knowledge.

Hockey Widow wrote:Defamation is a sticky thing. You guys are right . A lot of us, myself included, do post rumours. This is a hockey message board and a lot of things get said. So where do we draw the line?

To me, my lesson is this, is for me not to post anything further on personal matters that I hear whether I believe them to be true or not, unless I KNOW them to be true and have proof of that that I can verify and post. That includes not repeating past rumours.

But it is hard to know sometimes what crosses the line. One of my big things is I don't want Brian (CC Brian, not Burke Brian) to be in a position to take a hit because of something I post. I also don't relish the idea of being outed, whether I swing both ways or not!

But as far as what Burke is doing, good for him that he takes a stand. Personally I think it is the wrong stand to take. I was once involved in a very serious case of defamation as a witness, not as a perpetrator of the defamation. It cost a guy his entire business when it was all over. The sad thing was that 99% of his business had no idea about the allegations he was alleging until his lawyer started to issue subpoenas. Once everyone heard about the stuff through the law suit it destroyed his reputation and business so in effect the law suit was what was responsible for spreading the defamatory and slanderous comments. Seems this is the same here.

Somehow I think Burke is trying to expose people more than he is trying to get compensation.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality. Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see, I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me....

You are absolutely righ HW, none of our beeswax, but we can dream can't we?

That was my point, is he trying to expose people, maybe he thinks there is some specific sinister person behind this.

Funny thing is, I don't think many believed the rumour to be true (i certainly didn't and did not add fuel to the fire by commenting on it), it just was not credible but maybe people wanted to believe it to be true. Why? I have no idea.

I have been personally attacked on here and slagged but do I care? Not really, some know me personally, most don't. Do I really care what others think? Not really because I know it's 99% crap.

This particular rumour hurt BB and his family/marriage and that shouldn't go unpunished. If someone purposely made this rumour up to attack and ruin his reputation then I don't think any of us would accept that.

We talk mostly what is relevant to hockey in the HF, there are lines that we clearly do not cross but sometimes we do and we all have to deal with it somehow. Sort through it. That's why we have discussions on here.

Can't we all just have a big group hug and move on?

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

Aaronp18 wrote:I'll take HW's advise and just shut up about what happened.

I apologized to Brian and believe me I don't want anything to happen to him or anyone else because of something I posted.

I know it's a privilege to post here or anywhere else for that matter, don't exactly have a history of posting controversial or slanderous material. Never been warned and none of my other posts have been deleted to my knowledge.

Fuckity fuck.

OMG!

You're the Matt Cooke of CC!

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

Can I ask one simple question why does the affairs of anyone in sports really have to do with this site? personally I don't get it and rarely read these parts because I just don't care nor do I post about someone personal life. Some posters (not just this site) have way too much time on their hands with the amount of stuff they write.

A small part of me is glad that BB is taking a stand so that for a brief moment people may take more accountability for what they write. Too bad newspapers are not held to the same level.

Reefer2 wrote:Can I ask one simple question why does the affairs of anyone in sports really have to do with this site? personally I don't get it and rarely read these parts because I just don't care nor do I post about someone personal life. Some posters (not just this site) have way too much time on their hands with the amount of stuff they write.

A small part of me is glad that BB is taking a stand so that for a brief moment people may take more accountability for what they write. Too bad newspapers are not held to the same level.

While I agree with the sentiment I also think it is human nature to be curious about people in the public eye. I also think there is a difference in posting rumour and malicious gossip. It is that malicious gossip that is reckless and has clear disregard for the truth that Burke is trying to prevent I guess.

There are certainly generational issues too. I don't use Twitter or Facebook or any of that social media stuff and I am often blown away when I see reports of what has been written. I think people who have grown up with or who have developed a clear comfort level with those mediums often fail to recognize their own responsibility or accountability. It is different I guess if you post with your own name and do not try to be anonymous, at least you are out front for all to see.

So ya, part of me is glad Burke is doing this but anther part says what he has done is enough. Our guy named here simply does not have a history of being a gossip or being malicious in any way and its unfortunate that he gets caught up with those that started this. It amazes me that news web sites can post the entirety of the Statement of Claim that bares all to the world and an innocent post barely read by anyone gets this much attention.

Like I said earlier though it has made me step back and think about what I post in the future and maybe thats a good thing and in that regard then Burke has done his job.

Reefer2 wrote:Can I ask one simple question why does the affairs of anyone in sports really have to do with this site? personally I don't get it and rarely read these parts because I just don't care nor do I post about someone personal life. Some posters (not just this site) have way too much time on their hands with the amount of stuff they write.

A small part of me is glad that BB is taking a stand so that for a brief moment people may take more accountability for what they write. Too bad newspapers are not held to the same level.

While I agree with the sentiment I also think it is human nature to be curious about people in the public eye. I also think there is a difference in posting rumour and malicious gossip. It is that malicious gossip that is reckless and has clear disregard for the truth that Burke is trying to prevent I guess.

There are certainly generational issues too. I don't use Twitter or Facebook or any of that social media stuff and I am often blown away when I see reports of what has been written. I think people who have grown up with or who have developed a clear comfort level with those mediums often fail to recognize their own responsibility or accountability. It is different I guess if you post with your own name and do not try to be anonymous, at least you are out front for all to see.

So ya, part of me is glad Burke is doing this but anther part says what he has done is enough. Our guy named here simply does not have a history of being a gossip or being malicious in any way and its unfortunate that he gets caught up with those that started this. It amazes me that news web sites can post the entirety of the Statement of Claim that bares all to the world and an innocent post barely read by anyone gets this much attention.

Like I said earlier though it has made me step back and think about what I post in the future and maybe thats a good thing and in that regard then Burke has done his job.

In 'our guys' defence. It was somewhat of a hockey post because it was related to as to why was Burke fired. It was speculation, yes but it was not random gossip out of the blue, it sprang from the surprise firing.

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

What I did was simply attempt to find out if there was any truth to the rumour I had read, there was no intent to spread the rumour from my standpoint. There was no malice on my part.

When I found out that my post was in question and considered as defamatory I didn't repeat the story, it was dead to me. In all seriousness I never attempted to cause harm or pain and I obviously apologize if I did!

This is the last i will speak of this incident as i do not want to add to the issue.